Major Algae Problem (Yes, it is an emergency)

[saltyfilmfolks]

Removed every bit of algae, plus I redecorated, no real point in taking pictures now I guess. I'm sure it'll be back in 2-3 days though

You just blasted it today ?

Right on!!

 

[ArowanaLover1902]

Yeah just a bit ago, it's better to take it out now. Funny story, I was picking up all the rocks and found the remnants of the cave of my pistol shrimp, he just died a week or two ago, his caves were so decorated, he had a big stash of snail shells/old coral frag plugs/little pebbles hidden under his primary cavern.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Hahaha. Neat stuff.

It's pulling teeth sometimes to just get folks to use a toothbrush on gha some days.

 

[ArowanaLover1902]

Ha ha ha, I almost used exactly that, I only have the one I use though...still...I was pretty close

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Ha ha ha, I almost used exactly that, I only have the one I use though...still...I was pretty close

I have a pot scrubber , for those stuck on stains.

 

[ArowanaLover1902]

I probably would have just gotten my cleaning sponge had water worked, thankfully it did, blew the stuff right off and my pressure wasn't even very high. I probably pulled off about a red solo cup of algae though

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Nice. I like to smash that stuff. Serves it right imo.

 

[ArowanaLover1902]

It certainly does, my snails are so terrible though, they only clean the glass, my next task is to make sure it doesn't come back and I know they won't help. Are there any creatures that do better at this? My pistol shrimp used to "farm" my sand (let macroalgae grow for a bit, then cut down most of it and drag it off, then let the rest grow back, and again, because of this he never let any bad algae come near his crops, it was cool)

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

It certainly does, my snails are so terrible though, they only clean the glass, my next task is to make sure it doesn't come back and I know they won't help. Are there any creatures that do better at this? My pistol shrimp used to "farm" my sand (let macroalgae grow for a bit, then cut down most of it and drag it off, then let the rest grow back, and again, because of this he never let any bad algae come near his crops, it was cool)

IMO, for the most part , we knock it down, they keep it down.

 

[ArowanaLover1902]

Hmm there are viruses that affect algae, maybe there is one for bubble-algae that could be introduced in the tank, the problem would be feeding it when it killed all the algae, plus it could mutate and target macroalgae, I'd be interested in its application though.

 

[keddre]

I'm pretty sure cyano is photosynthetic but I don't know about bubble. What I would try is moving your coral and fish into your new tank, then give your problem tank a complete black out coupled with emerald crabs. Throw a towel over it and don't touch for a couple weeks

The lack of light will stop the algae from growing and starvation should lead the emerald crabs to eating the bubble algae.

 

[keddre]

It certainly does, my snails are so terrible though, they only clean the glass, my next task is to make sure it doesn't come back and I know they won't help. Are there any creatures that do better at this? My pistol shrimp used to "farm" my sand (let macroalgae grow for a bit, then cut down most of it and drag it off, then let the rest grow back, and again, because of this he never let any bad algae come near his crops, it was cool)

Off topic, but what kind of shrimp and macro was this?

 

[ArowanaLover1902]

Tiger and caulpera. Yeah I've been thinking about that, I'd just rather not kill all the stuff in my live rock too.

 

[ArowanaLover1902]

I'm not sure whether he ate it or just used it in his caves, but on numerous occasions I saw him exit his cave, go to his little farm, and use his snapping claw to shoot apart the stem while gripping the top of the stem, he would then drag this into his cave.

 

[mcarroll]

What is your current snail population? And this is the 29G Biocube, right?

 

[ArowanaLover1902]

Correct, I think 12-15, not totally sure. Pretty various group, a turbo, margaritas, etc, the works.

 

[Tahoe61]

Looks like a bad case of Dino to me.

I would take a turkey baster and remove it from the rocks and corals every day, allow it to settle out and clean filtration.
I would also do a complete black out on the tank for 3 to 4 days.
If it's Dino snails or other inverts are not going to eat it.

If it springs right back in a day or two than it's probably Dino. I would not clean the rocks with tap water.

 

[ArowanaLover1902]

That picture in the second post isn't my tank, someone else posted that

 

[mcarroll]

(I fell into the same trap. ;Facepalm)

 

[LuizW13]

For future reference, DinoX may be useful. I have a some of this stuff that i bought incorrectly thinking that the brown cyano or whatever bacteria was dino(or maybe it was) - either way it worked.